XANADU OPERA TIME | ALL INVITED

[shall_yield_us]

WHEN: Jan. 15 | the Xanadu gardens.
CHARACTERS: Everyone.
SUMMARY: we interrupt your regular Xanadu viewing for the following special reminder: ...the visit ain't over til the bloody plant sings.

That's right: our green belle been giving rather obnoxious titillating performances in Xanadu, to what can only be the... enjoyment... of certain Citizens. Adding injury to insult, it's quite possible that a couple of residents have also captured the plant's tune on film, and now the video's been turned into a network viral phenomenon!

But as Citizens surely know, every grand artist needs a doting live audience: come get dibs on more plant footage? Save someone from its evil clutches? Help a poor soul that's got lost in the gardens' great expanse? Get the plant to sign with your talent agency? Embark on a mystical quest to get it to shut up?

Just put your chlorophyll-tinted glasses on, and anything is possible.


[ ooc: Find whatever excuse to throw your character in Xanadu, tag someone new, and all around: GET IN HERE. Just as a note: hearing the plant is definitely optional, so please don't think it's an overwhelming sound that'd keep your character up at night or some such. It's just a log prompt. XD ]

Comments

[likeboudica]

[ She inclines her head, acquiescent. ]

In that case, please call me Tessa.

[brobeforehos]

Tessa. [She nods, again - this, this feels like the same excitement and awkwardness that sept in when she met Sin the first time, but it might be why she's eager to keep talking.]

What brings you to Xanadu today, Tessa?

[likeboudica]

I thought that perhaps a walk and fresh air would do me good. I meant to read on a bench here, but it is a little too cold, I think, so I've just been walking.

[ She smiles a little, again. ] It's very beautiful here, is it not?

[brobeforehos]

It is, yes. It's not too cold if you bring ammunition against cold.

[Like her, for example. She's wearing her coat and a scarf around her neck, and has been huddling - slouching; her mother would have scowled at her for it - the book still in her lap.]

What book are you reading?

[likeboudica]

Trousers may be more suited to this weather than skirts. [ Tessa is, as usual, in one of the dresses she is used to. She's wearing a coat over it, of course, and the skirts almost reach the ground, yet they're not very well insulating. ]

A Tale of Two Cities. It's one of my favourites.

[ She eyes the book in Mae's lap. ] And you?

[brobeforehos]

But not as gorgeous looking as the one you're wearing now. [Mae's mind is working a mile a minute now, taking all these tidbits of information and connecting dots - but it's not a mystery, she reminds herself. It's as easy as asking, with some people. Not everyone keeps secrets and speaks in undertones.

She looks down at her own book, turning it over for Tessa to see.]

A Room of One's Own. It's...not a favourite, but it's an interesting read.

[A pause - easier to ask; she's going to test that.] Can I ask you where you're from, Tessa? And - when?

[likeboudica]

What is the book about? [ Tessa ignores the compliment to her clothes. They're part of her time and what she is used to, even though she knows that they seem foreign, strange and out-dated to others. ]

I'm from New York, but I was in London before I came here. And it was 1878.

[brobeforehos]

I thought so - it was published some fifty years later. It's an essay, actually.

[Victorian age, she thinks to herself. Nice dresses, horrible way of treating women, for an era governed by such a strong queen. She holds the book out.]

Here, I'll lend it to you, you might find it an interesting read.

[likeboudica]

[ Tessa takes the book, running a finger over the spine. ] Thank you, Mae.

Where are you from?

[brobeforehos]

Don't mention it. It was a reread for me, anyway.

[And introducing Victorian ladies to feminist essays is something she can do now. Yes.]

Me? I lived - back home, I mean - in Exeter.

[likeboudica]

I would lend you mine in return, but it is merely borrowed from the library. [ Tessa's been spending so much time in there, it hasn't been necessary to buy books of her own. Though perhaps she should, now that she thinks of it. ]

Exeter. So you are British, then. I thought your accent sounded it.

[brobeforehos]

Born and bred, yes.

[She waves dismissively.] Don't worry about it. Books are nice, but company is nicer right now. I've been turning into a hermit enough as it is.

[likeboudica]

Is it nice there? I have not seen much outside of London. [ And even there, she hasn't seen much.

Tessa can relate, on the hermit thing. ]

[brobeforehos]

It's...[It was, she thinks; back when she hadn't known magic was real and magicians were corrupt and evil and demons ate people's souls because that was the currency for power.

She smiles.] It can be quaint. And it's entertaining, too - depending on where you look.

[likeboudica]

That sounds pleasant. Did you like it there?

[brobeforehos]

I did. [She would say she likes it here, too - it's not horrible, she doesn't hate the City. So it must come down to something different.]

I liked the people there, mostly. My brother, especially.

[likeboudica]

[ Tessa's mouth twists, for the briefest moment, when she thinks of her own brother, but then she's smiling again. ]

What is he like?

[brobeforehos]

[And Mae's face lights up. She sits up straight again, and gets excited to talk about Jamie again.]

He's lovely. He's the best brother a girl could have. It's always been us two against the world - we're the team, and it's just...I miss him. [Stops - no, not the time to get teary-eyed.]

He's a fantastic dancer, too. Very smart and funny.

[likeboudica]

I'm sorry that he is not here. [ Placing a hand on Mae's arm for a brief moment. ]

He sounds like a very nice person.

[brobeforehos]

[She gives Tessa sheepish smile - so much for her poker face, when it comes to Jamie.] Thanks.

He's a very nice person. Much nicer than me, for sure.

[likeboudica]

You do not seem unkind, so far.

[brobeforehos]

I do my best.

[likeboudica]

That is all anyone can ask, I should think.

[brobeforehos]

Or most people, at least. You don't seem unkind, either.

[likeboudica]

It is hardly reasonable to expect more of a person than for them to do their best.

Thank you.